If we have read on the transformation within spoken about Ramalinga Adigal in the last post, the external transformation that comes prior to these internal transformations, comes with knowing our karma, following the five tenets set by Agathiyar for man and his purpose here in general, and coming to worship the Siddhas where each individual's purpose is then made known and henceforth he sets out to carry out only the wishes, desires and wants of the divine till his last days. He attains mukti while living having accomplished what he came to do. He is a Jeevanmukta having attained Jeevan Mukti. If the journey for an ordinary man who had come to see mundane things in life and live out his karma and desires ends abrutply, the Jeevamukta leaves the mortal form as and when either he wishes or his guru submits to his leaving. If in the former some souls take immediate rebirth as there is an urgent need, others spend some time in cold storage before coming back. In the latter, the Jeevanmuktas having served their true purpose and the divine's purpose continue serving their gurus and their lineage in their realm. If both my gurus Supramania Swami and Tavayogi had served him in the physical form here, Agathiyar told us that he had taken them back to help him in his realm. But he promises that he would be on hand and standby for us. Dhanvantri said that Tavayogi was guiding us in his Jothi form. Supramania Swami in asking me to light an oil lamp and keep it burning told me that he shall watch over me forever in the light of the flame. Both Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Bhagawan Nithyananda comforted their devotees that they could do more in the subtle sphere.
In asking me to share the internal transformation taking place Agathiyar wants others keen to attain the states mentioned to get an idea before indulging in it. Recently he cautioned us about playing around with the breath. Vaasi yoga done wrongly could kill he warned.
Annie Besant in her talks on "The Laws of the Higher Life", the Theosophical Publishing House, 1903, warns that
"You must begin to purify the body before you attempt to practice any yoga worthy of the name. For real yoga is as dangerous to an impure and undisciplined body as a match to a cask of gunpowder."
As Annie Besant cautions us on the need to prepare the physical self first, through the eight limbs of Yoga as in taking a pure satvic diet, among other restrictions, Patanjali in coming through a Nadi reading surprised me when he only spoke about the very basic and emphasized on my diet instead of jumping into some form of Yogic practice which I expected back then in my 27th Nadi Reading on 18.5.2008. Besides advising on the kind of food to consume, Patanjali asks to continue the Asana and Pranayama practices and prayers given by Tavayogi. He mentions that prayers (pujai), meditation (tavam) and Yoga (Yogam) can overcome Karma. He asks that I stay on this path. He instructs me to spread the teachings of the Siddhas. He reveals that this was his discourse on Yoga for me. He made it pretty simple for me.
We cannot possibly qualify as disciples as we want quick lessons and are in a rush to see things through and want immediate results. We chose and pick what we want to do, often dropping practices that need much effort and that are time consuming. We lack dedication and discipline often leaving these practices behind to attend to other matters that capture and allure our attention. For others keen to know impatience sets in and they sought shortcuts and miracles. When I met Tavayogi in 2005 he told me one had to bear with the long wait of some twelve years before the guru even acknowledges us as his student. Similarly only in 2016 on his last trip to Malaysia did he acknowledge me as a faithful student of his. It took him some eleven years to see my true worth, testing me along the way for my faithfulness to the path, adherence to instructions and practices given, and my perseverance, and patience. I guess I did pass his test as he passed on happy in 2018.
Looking back now indeed it has been a long journey. Taking up the call to come to his path, Agathiyar must have seen some potential and Siddha material in us that he could work on and bring a transformation in us and eventually make us a Siddha too. But first he had to wipe the slate clean of the impressions of my past karma. He set me on a pilgrimage giving me remedies to carry out and satisfy the needs of the divine law in place that states we reap what we sow. He came to recommend ways to counter or cushion the effects of our past karma with minimum injury, suffering, misery, and ailment to us. He then threw all the sacred scriptures and books at us and asks that we follow the countless virtues and morals that are ascribed to them This helps dampen the force and velocity of the negative nature in us and propels the positive to greater heights, overshadowing the evil in us. This restraints or ethics of behavior, and observances, account for the first two limbs, Yama and Niyama, as listed in the eight limbs of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga. Meanwhile, he had me meet my very first guru in physical form at the end of my maiden pilgrimage to India to carry out the said remedies. He brought Supramania Swami into my life to show me guru bhakti and prepare me further and at the same time keep me from harm's way and under his shadow until Tavayogi came along. If my parents had taught me Sariyai where we live in the world of Siva worshiping at homes daily and occasionally at temples, that we held on for years, Supramania Swami ignited and lighted the lamp of devotion towards the guru, which was a new subject for someone who knew only worship to the deities.
After Tavayogi came into my life in 2005, Supramania Swami took leave passing me into his safe hands and gave me a jumpstart by passing me his forty years worth of merits gained from the tapas and austerities he did. Agathiyar waited three years to see if I followed his dictates before coming forth with my second Nadi reading as foretold. The Nadi reading appeared at the exact moment Tavayogi Thangarasan of Kallar Ashram was in town. Agathiyar told me to take initiation from him. Another journey began of walking the path of the Siddhas, with Tavayogi literally taking me to the abodes and caves of the Siddhas in the jungles of India. Tavayogi then taught us physical postures, and control of the prana or breath the third and fourth limbs Asana, and Praṇayama of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra in 2007. This saw immediate release of energies within that would start bringing on an internal transformation in the years to come. Agathiyar mentions in my 26th Nadi Reading on 25.4.2008 that it was a treasure that Tavayogi had given us by way of teaching us these Asanas and Pranayama.
When the Muladhara attained excessive heat due to the tapas and practices, in 2010, that brought on much pain and discomfort crippling me and immobilising me Agathiyar asks me to stop doing all forms of practices in 2011. The practice had unleased energies within. With the opening of the chakras and revitalizing them, the dosas in the body had aggravated and went off-balance. It was a period of partial hibernation for me with only puja and charity going on. In 2020 with the coming of the pandemic, it was a full lockdown both for the nation and me. Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came to revive the Asanas and Pranayama that Tavayogi taught earlier and asked to worship the light within. They brought us to the fifth limb of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses and asking us go beyond, by going within, engaging further in the finer and subtle stages of Yoga namely Dharaṇa or concentration; and Dhyana or meditation.
The journey traveling the path of Patanjali that is initially an external one working on the body, habits, character, etc and a forward journey then takes us on a reverse path, or a return journey now moving inwards, from the body towards the soul.
Contrary to the common belief and understanding of renouncing the world as in leaving the home and all material comforts, BKS Iyengar terms true renunciation as where thoughts, perspectives, and understanding undergo a total transformation as we journey within. We still live in this world but see things differently. We are not perturbed by all that takes place knowing the world to be a stage and we as actors playing a role in it. We sit back and watch the movie that goes by on the widescreen of life. Patanjali shows the way to Samadhi or absorption, that of knowing and realizing the seed of consciousness. God resides within you in your heart. This is both the starting and ending point of the journey wrote Tavayogi in autographing my copy of his book "Andamum Pindamum"
(ஆண்டவன் உரைகின்ற இடம் தங்கள் உள்ளம். அதுவே பயணத்தின் தொடக்கமும் முடிவும்.)
When the lower back pain that came on in 2010 arose again after eight years Lord Murugan in a Nadi reading told me that it came back so that I would go within. Except when the need arises to look into important chores I was to sit at home. Similarly, when a senior devotee fell at his home Agathiyar said that it was to have him sit at home. Recently another devotee strained his calf while playing football. Agathiyar tells him that it was to have him sit at home. Who can understand the workings of the Siddhas?